My ongoing search for nice photos for the Eastside Audubon Society brought be back to Juanita Bay Park in Kirkland. Although I've been a regular there for five years or so, I don't know if I've ever seen so many birds in the park as I did yesterday, November 15th. It began with a flock of about 50 Pine Siskin in the top of the alder trees along the causeway. Then I went out on to the dock at the end of the middle boardwalk and never had to leave that spot.

The bay was full of rafts of at least a thousand water fowl, mostly American Coots, but also?Canada Geese, American Wigeons, Ring-necked Ducks, Double-crested Cormorants, and even a lone Snow Goose.

In the air overhead we had a Sharp-shinned Hawk, Glaucous-winged Gulls, a Belted Kingfisher, and a mature Bald Eagle. The eagle would occasionally buzz over the bay, and what a sight that was when a thousand birds were all trying to get out of its sight at the same time!

Near the dock were Mallards, Green-winged Teals, Wood Ducks, Gadwalls, Pied-billed Grebes, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers, a strange Mallard/Pintail hybrid, Red-winged Blackbirds, and a Great Blue Heron. I heard a Virginia Rail in the vegetation behind the dock but didn't see it.

The highlight was the three types of Swans in a group of about 10. There was the Bewick's Swan which seemed to be paired up with a Tundra, along with about 7 or 8 Trumpeters. They spent most of their time grooming in the shallows at the mouth of Forbes creek to the east, or right, of the dock.

Here's a link to a set of my top ten photos from the morning. Hard to believe I took all but the Siskin from the same spot.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickthompson/sets/72157632026774312/

Mick Thompson

P.S. The 113th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count is coming up. Eastside Audubon is having theirs on Saturday, December 15th and there are still spaces left in 4 of the 6 groups. Sign up at eastsideaudubon.org